We’ve all heard the phrase, “take the holistic approach.” But, what does that mean from a dealer perspective? From the first point of contact, through the sales process, and throughout the life of the unit, your goal is to build a relationship that supports the whole customer journey. It’s as much a mindset as it is a functional way of running your business.
But what happens if you don’t take a holistic approach? Say for example, your parts and service departments are viewed as cost centers rather than profit centers. While you provide needed functions that are critical to the life of the powersports product, the departments are not viewed as a component of supporting the whole customer journey. Instead, those departments may be managed as an expense that is monitored and managed based on their impact to the dealership – not as a benefit to the customer. Or maybe inventories are kept as low as possible, employee training is written off as too expensive, and service employees are not encouraged to evaluate the entire customer experience with the unit.
What might happen if you changed your approach to one portion of your dealership? Let’s consider a scenario where you adopt a holistic approach to the service department.
Holistic Service as an Opportunity
Changing the structure of your service department from a cost center to a profit center requires new processes, training and engagement from dealership management. The transformation begins with an overall audit, then a commitment to focus on customer service beginning with inspection to delivery and beyond.
Next comes extensive service manager training, including:
- how to conduct a walkaround with the customer
- discussion of the recommended maintenance schedule and why regular maintenance is holistically important
- how to handle a service assessment along with transparency of repair
- review completed statement of work and answer any questions
- asking for feedback and online review
Why do these tasks matter? They speak directly to the holistic approach of supporting the customer in a profitable manner versus focusing on repairing a vehicle in the most cost-efficient manner. A holistic, profit-centered approach improves customer service, employee productivity, and engagement from the service team, resulting in increased absorption, customer satisfaction and retention.
Interested in adopting a holistic approach in 2023? Our proven team of advisors can assist you and your team with the training, tools, and resources needed to implement the right approach for your dealership. At EFG Companies, we’re more than an F&I provider, we’re your business partner with more than 45 years of experience.
